Well, I've been living in Seneca Rocks, West Virginia for almost six months now, and it's been pretty cool! Life here is an interesting combination of slow and fast. It's slow in that things change slowly around here, so slow that sometimes it's hard to notice, but fast in that it's already been six months and I've been constantly running about playing outside and doing things!
Learning to be a guide has been really cool, and it's been interesting seeing how monetizing my favorite hobby changes my relationship with it. I've been guiding friends and acquaintances for a long time, this is simply my debut into getting paid to guide customers, which brings a whole new level of responsibility to the game. It's been a great move though, as I absolutely love teaching and sharing my love of climbing! Getting to share so many firsts with clients and help them accomplish their goals is incredibly rewarding!
However I've also learned that gig work is feast or famine. Sometimes I'll be exhausted from working over a week straight, sometimes I won't have work for over a week. I did get a part time gig guiding a via ferrata a few miles down the road, so I'm able to pad my schedule with that, and it proves to be a pretty chill money-making romp!
It was a little rough in the beginning of the season, since I showed up pretty early and most seasonal workers hadn't come in yet and it hadn't warmed up to pick up much work. It was a cold and lonely few weeks before things really swung in, but I had my rope solo kit and my final semester's classes to keep me occupied! In May, just when the weather got really perfect for climbing, I graduated from UNC Chapel Hill with degrees in Psychology and Information Science! I'm pretty stoked to finally be graduated and have those degrees under my belt!
With the good weather though, boy did the season get into full swing! I've been guiding a good bit and made friends with my fellow guides and a lot of the seasonal workers at Nelson Rocks and the nearby Mountain Institute. I've had a ton of adventures with all my new friends; rock climbing, caving, margarita nights, the drive-in movie theater, contra and square dancing (contra is way better!), and so much more! It's a pretty good crew up here :)
I've been pushing myself on rock as well! I think the most successful aspect is in my lead rope soloing. I've climbed some things lead rope solo this season that I would have been super proud to have led at all just a year or two ago. I've been pushing myself on trad and sport as well, safely getting myself out of my physical and mental comfort zone! Climbing is a pretty incredible avenue towards personal growth.
Check out the pictures at the bottom of this post for some specific adventures and stories from this season so far!

As for the off-season, I'm heading out of here in late October with a flight booked taking me abroad on November 3rd! There's still some wiggle room with those plans, so I'll let it remain a mystery what my plan is and y'all can find out about it when I make my next post ;) They're pretty awesome though and I'm super excited!!